NFL Draft Scouting Report: Joseph Scelfo

NC State
Center #66
Senior, 6’1 300

Pros

Mean

Athletic

Smart

Cons

Anchor

Height

Scheme

Joseph Scelfo played one year at North Carolina State after transferring from South Alabama. Standing at 6-foot-1, 300 pounds Scelfo may be just a tiny bit undersized at the next level, but that is not a death sentence for a career. The top graded center in the NFL was Matt Paradis in 2016 per Pro Football Focus, with almost identical in size to Scelfo. However, I would like to see Scelfo put on 5-10 pounds to get through a full NFL season.

At NC State Scelfo made the protection calls at the line and did an excellent job. He does a good job of recognizing blitzes and calling correct protections. Another unappreciated part of his game is snap accuracy. Scelfo did not miss any snaps in the games I watched, even during the monsoon game against Notre Dame. One thing to look for is a comfort level with a quarterback being under center, which wasn’t a common thing at NC State and it shouldn’t be a problem but it is worth noting.

Run Game

One thing I love about Scelfo’s game is his mean streak, he is always looking to take someone to the ground and bury them. This mean streak borders on dirty, but that’s right where you need your offensive line to be. If Scelfo can keep it between the whistles that mean streak is exactly what you’re looking for.

Scelfo is impressive at combo blocking, and getting to the second level. When combo blocking with a guard, Scelfo was almost always responsible for getting to the second level and blocking linebackers, but he excelled at getting push until it was time to get onto linebackers. When blocking one on one, Scelfo was more of a position blocker, but showed flashes of getting really good push on occasion. Scelfo did an excellent job of getting his body around and walling off running lanes, and of getting up to the second level to let the running back make his cut from Scelfo’s block.

Scelfo is good in space. He does a good job staying square while going downfield and doesn’t whiff on blocks often. Scelfo isn’t the fastest mover in open space, however, he does move intelligently which allows him to almost always make the block. One thing I would like to see change is Scelfo’s tendency to dive at knees in space; I would rather see him really engulf secondary players in space. That being said a lot of times just getting in the defenders’ way is enough.

Pass Game

In the passing game Scelfo may be more valuable, he has had the responsibility to call protections at the line and he has done a good job. Watching film I only saw one play where I questioned a slide call, but then I realized that someone just missed a block. You would be surprised how important it is to just make sure everyone knows who they need to block.

The one weakness in Scelfo’s pass protection was his anchor. Against bigger nose tackles Scelfo can struggle to re-anchor and stop the momentum. That is my main motivation for wanting to see if Scelfo can hold an extra 10 pounds on his frame. With all that being said, Scelfo can stop the bull rush, just not as quickly as I would like to see. Spending one offseason in an NFL weight room may fix that problem, but it’s not something you can ignore when scouting.